Todd Jacobson
NS&D Monitor
6/20/2014
With the nation’s nuclear deterrent facing budgetary pressures, the Air Force and Navy in recent years have ramped up cooperation, and one of the Air Force’s top nuclear officials said this week that the cooperation is already reaping dividends. Speaking at the Capitol Hill Club, Air Force Assistant Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration Maj. Gen. Garrett Harencak said the services are “making huge progress” collaborating, sharing information and pursuing common components among the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles. “Every day I’m told of new ways that the Air Force and the Navy have found, in even very small things to relatively large things, ways where we could cooperate, we could pool resources and work,” Harencak said. “And so it’s working great. And can we do more? Yes. And will we do more? Absolutely.”
In 2012, the Navy and Air Force signed a memorandum of understanding to increase cooperation and established eight working groups to explore areas of commonality, and there have already been some notable successes: a fuze developed for the Navy’s Mk-5 reentry vehicle has features that can be used by the Air Force in a follow-on effort. Navy Strategic Systems Program chief Vice Adm. Terry Benedict also said during a recent speech at the Capitol Hill Club that the Navy had participated in the Air Force’s Analysis of Alternatives on a follow-on ICBM. “We have to think about where commonality makes sense and where commonality would not make sense and we would want to be uncommon from a reliability standpoint,” Benedict said in a June 13 speech. “So all those are in the discussion tradespace as we interact on commonality with the Air Force.”
Tightening Budgets ‘Demand’ a Look at Commonality
Benedict said tightening budgets make it necessary for the Air Force and Navy to explore greater collaboration. “As we look at the budgets, and as we look at the amount of effort necessary to refurbish the triad moving forward, myself as a taxpayer—and I think the nation as taxpayers absolutely are correct in requiring us—demanding from us in the Air Force that we look at commonality,” he said. “That’s where I’m at. That’s the program I’m driving inside SSP, although we will do it in a manner that ensures that our mission reliability is upheld.”
Harencak cautioned, however, that the services would not pursue commonality just for the sake of collaborating. “We’re going to do it where it makes sense to do it and we’re going to make sure that we’re not leaving those who come behind us some pretty big bills to pay just so we could say that we’re doing the same thing,” he said.
